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RAC Magazine is the leading source of news, information and analysis for the refrigeration and air conditioning industry. For over a century, RAC has provided decision makers with unrivalled coverage of the latest technical innovations that drive this sector.

F-Gas regulators promise to ramp up activity

Regulators have promised to ramp up compliance activity around the F-Gas and ODS Regulations in 2011-2012

The move is in a bid to tackle a wider range of companies than have so far been approached.

Advisory body F-Gas Support said that regulators from both local authorities and the Environment Agency would be scaling up engagement with the industrial sector, particularly with food and drink and pharmaceuticals companies and with the contracting sector as a whole, following the success of regulatory activities with supermarkets.

The aim, said the body, was to ‘maximise the effectiveness and visibility of the interventions’, so as to help encourage greater compliance from the industry.

Activity will continue to focus on the companies that are responsible for the larges F-Gas emissions, and the work between local authorities and supermarkets will continue. F-Gas Support said that the focus for retailers will shift upwards from simply meeting the regulations to encourage them to aim for ‘best in class’ standards.

The Environment Agency will target industrial users, principally food and drinks manufacturers and pharmaceuticals, which have the highest risk of emissions after supermarkets and which will generally require EA permits.

F-Gas Support said it would continue to provide information to the wider industry, such as air conditioning users in buildings to ensure good levels of awareness.

At the same time as ramping up regulatory activity, F-Gas Support said it would be gradually ‘ramping down’ its support work, with the phone help line becoming an email service after September. It is maintaining its phone service around the July certification deadline, when it expects to be answering lots of queries.

DEFRA, the government body responsible for the implementation of the F-Gas regulation, has been urged to take a hard-line approach to F-Gas certification as the industry debates actual registered numbers.

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RAC Magazine is the leading source of news, information and analysis for the refrigeration and air conditioning industry. For over a century, RAC has provided decision makers with unrivalled coverage of the latest technical innovations that drive this sector.